Arizona blaze kills 19 elite firefighters

Nineteen firefighters - all members of an elite response team - were killed battling a fast-moving wildfire in Arizona, marking the deadliest single incident for firefighters since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

1.
Surviving Hotshot crew member Brendan McDonough walks back to his seat after speaking at a memorial service for the fallen members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots in Prescott Valley, Ariz., on July 9, 2013. Thousands of mourners, including firefighters from around the country and Vice President Joe Biden, converged in central Arizona on Tuesday to pay final tribute to 19 young firemen killed in the line of duty. The fallen firefighters were overrun by flames on the afternoon of June 30 as they battled a lightning-sparked blaze with hand tools outside the tiny town of Yarnell.
Lucy Nicholson / Reuters

2.
An honor guard presents Los Angeles County Fire Captain Joe Woyjeck and his family with an American flag honoring their son Kevin Woyjeck during a memorial service at Tim's Toyota Center on July 9, in Prescott Valley, Ariz.
David Kadlubowski / Pool via Getty Images

3.
Jason Medlin of Prescott is comforted by his daughter Tigone, 15, left, and his girlfriend Kristi Shepherd, as he grieves for his friends among the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots during a memorial service in Prescott Valley, Ariz., on July 9. Medlin knew two of the men who died.
Rick D'elia / EPA

4.
People gather to watch on a big screen the memorial service in honor of the 19 firefighters that were killed in a wildfire, outside Tim's Toyota Center in Prescott Valley, Ariz., on July 9.
Laura Segall / Getty Images

5.
Dixie Rudolph reacts to a U.S. Marine Corps flyover near the end of the memorial service on July 9, in Prescott, Ariz.
Julie Jacobson / AP

6.
Chaplain Bob Ossler, right, of the Mayer, Ariz., fire department, hugs people at the entrance to the memorial service July 9 in Prescott Valley, Ariz.
Laura Segall / Getty Images

7.
San Diego firefighter Robert Bunsoldat takes a picture of each of the Prescott Fire Dept.'s Granite Mountain Hotshots team from a banner that circles the entrance to their memorial in Prescott Valley, Ariz., on July 9.
Mike Blake / Reuters

8.
Firefighters pray in front of a memorial dedicated to the 19 firefighters killed in the nearby wildfire in Prescott, Ariz., July 8. The fallen firefighters became trapped when their position was overrun by flames from the Yarnell Hill fire, southwest of Prescott, on June 30.
Lucy Nicholson / Reuters

9.
Children look at mementos left at a makeshift memorial dedicated to the 19 firefighters in Prescott, Ariz., July 8.
Lucy Nicholson / Reuters

10.
Hundreds of people line Montezuma Street on July 7 in downtown Prescott, Ariz. as 19 hearses slowly roll by carrying the Granite Mountain Hotshot firefighters killed the previous week by an out-of-control blaze near Yarnell, Ariz. The nearly five-hour-long procession began near the state Capitol in Phoenix, went through the town where the Granite Mountain Hotshots were killed and ended in the mountain community of Prescott, where they lived and will be laid to rest.
Julie Jacobson / AP

11.
Citizens of Prescott grieve as they welcome home the procession of hearses carrying the dead firefighters following a 100-mile procession, July 7.
Rick D'elia / EPA

12.
Prescott Fire Marshal Don Devendorf, right, is hugged by Robert Gill as a fire truck carrying friends and family members of Granite Mountain Interagency Hotshot Crew arrives as part of the Prescott Frontier Days Rodeo Parade, July 6, in Prescott, Ariz.
Chris Carlson / AP

13.
An aerial photo taken on July 4 shows the site where 19 firefighters were killed four days earlier. The line in the middle of the photo, built by a bulldozer after the deaths, allowed law enforcement and fellow firefighters to reach the site and remove their bodies from the mountain the day after they were killed. The Prescott Fire Department identified the site where the men died as the discolored patch of earth just beyond where the bulldozer line ends. The photo also shows that the intense wildfire wiped out all vegetation in the area.
Prescott Fire Department via AP

14.
A burned home is seen in an unidentified neighborhood west of Highway 89 in Yarnell, Ariz., July 3. Firefighters on tightened their grip on a blaze in Arizona that killed 19 of their comrades days earlier in the deadliest U.S. wildfire tragedy in 80 years, and officials said they feared more bodies may be found during mop-up operations.
Todd Tamcsin / Reuters

15.
The surviving member of the Granite Hill Hotshot crew, Brendan McDonough, right, hugs a family member of the victims during a candlelight vigil and remembrance for the 19 firefighters who perished in the Yarnell Hill Fire at Prescott High School in Prescott, Ariz., July 2.
Michael Nelson / EPA

16.
A woman waves during a community vigil on July 2, in Prescott, Ariz. for the 19 firefighters killed battling a wildfire near Yarnell, Ariz. The elite crew of firefighters were overtaken by the out-of-control blaze as they tried to protect themselves from the flames under fire-resistant shields on June 30.
Chris Carlson / AP

17.
Attendees hold candles during a vigil and memorial gathering at Prescott High School in Prescott, Ariz., July 2. The U.S. military ordered four air tankers to join fire-dousing efforts in Arizona, where firefighters were battling a still out-of-control inferno which killed 19 of their comrades.
Krista Kennell / AFP - Getty Images

19.
Stephen Grady reads various notes left at the Granite Mountain Interagency Hotshot Crew fire station, July 2, in Prescott, Ariz. Nineteen members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, based in Prescott, were killed Sunday when a windblown wildfire overcame them north of Phoenix.
Julie Jacobson / AP

20.
Firefighter and "Hotshot" team member, Andrew Ashcraft texted this photo to his wife, Juliann, before he perished in a blaze Sunday. The 29-year-old father of four added the message, "This is my lunch spot...too bad lunch was an MRE," the Associated Press reported.
Courtesy of Juliann Ashcraft

21.
Marsha McKee and Stanley Nesheim react during a memorial service for 19 firefighters of the Granite Mountain Hotshot Crew on July 1 in Prescott, Ariz. McKee is the mother of one of the Hotshots who were killed by an out-of-control blaze near Yarnell, Ariz., the day before.
Julie Jacobson / AP

22.
An aerial view of a strip of fire retardant near Yarnell, Ariz., that separates the burned area from the green area on July 1.
Rick Wilking / Reuters

23.
A woman holds her hand over her heart as she cries during a memorial service July 1 at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Ariz., for the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshot crew members who died in the Yarnell Hill Fire the day before.
Michael Nelson / EPA

24.
An aerial view of a section of Yarnell, Ariz., that was destroyed by a wildfire is seen on July 1.
Rick Wilking / Reuters

25.
Firefighters from the Prescott, Ariz., fire department and other area departments embrace during a memorial service July 1 in Prescott.
Julie Jacobson / AP

26.
A message for firefighters is displayed on the windows of a coffee shop in Prescott, Ariz., on July 1.
Joshua Lott / Reuters

27.
A retired firefighter reacts after placing a sign outside Fire Station No. 1 in Prescott, Ariz., on June 30. A team of 19 elite firefighters were killed battling a raging wildfire stoked by record heat and high winds, marking the greatest loss of life among firefighters from a single U.S. Wildland blaze in 80 years.
Joshua Lott / Reuters

28.
Homes burn as the Yarnell Hill Fire approaches Glenn Ilah on June 30, 2013 near Yarnell, Ariz. The fire started with a lightning strike on Friday and spread to 2,000 acres on Sunday amid triple-digit temperatures.
David Kadlubowski / The Arizona Republic via AP

29.
A wildfire burns homes in the Glenn Ilah area near Yarnell, Ariz. on Sunday, June 30, 2013.
David Kadlubowski / The Arizona Republic via AP

30.
A wildfire burns homes in Yarnell, Ariz. on June 30, 2013.
David Kadlubowski / The Arizona Republic via AP

31.
Firefighters spray water on a restaurant to help protect it from flames in the Glenn Ilah area near Yarnell, Ariz. on June 30, 2013.
David Kadlubowski / The Arizona Republic via AP

32.
A wildfire destroys homes in the Glenn Ilah area near Yarnell, Ariz. on June 30, 2013.
David Kadlubowski / The Arizona Republic via AP